Logical reasoning PrepTest 110 · Section 3 · Question 2

Incorrect. If humans and animals have similar instincts, but it's easier to study animals, then it makes sense for psychologists to study them to learn about human psychology.

Incorrect. If psychologists can't run certain experiments on humans, then it makes sense that they'd instead try to learn what they can by studying animals.

Incorrect. If it's cheaper to experiment on animals, then it makes sense why some psychologists use them as test subjects instead of humans. They may lack the funding to run the human experiments, or they may want to get a baseline using the less expensive animals first!

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Bizarro Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
Psychologists study animals to learn about human personalities.

Answer Anticipation:
This Bizarro Paradox question is asking us to explain why some psychologists study animals to learn about human psychology. Remember that in this question type, we're not trying to explain why one side of the paradox is wrong—so we can't say that the psychologists don't know what they're doing.

As such, there are two likely avenues for incorrect answers that would explain why psychologists do this. The first will establish that humans and animals have similar psychologies, thus justifying studying the latter to learn about the former. The second will talk about why study animals instead of just studying humans—maybe it's easier to do so, or more ethical.

Answer Explanation:
This answer would explain why some animal psychologists might base their hypotheses on human studies, but the stimulus asks about the opposite—using animals to understand humans.

Key Takeaway:
Paradox questions are frequently based on comparisons. This one is interesting in that the correct answers took two tacks—one that brought up similarities (in psychology), the other that brought up differences (in making animals easier or more legal to run experiments on). Always think about how a comparison will play into a paradox or argument when it's relevant!

Incorrect. If studying animals has worked in the past to learn about humans, then it makes sense for psychologists to continue studying the former to learn about the latter.